Millcreek Canyon in Green

…and you may know that I lived in the desert of Arizona for more than 20 years before moving here to Salt Lake City…

…but I spent much of my childhood exploring and playing in forests similar to these…

…so it’s like returning to my origins to be in this type of environment again….

You might remember the bridge from an earlier post….

This is as beautiful with snow and ice along its banks…but in a much different way….

There are many places along the road in Millcreek Canyon where the trees envelope the road with a canopy of green….

These photos were taken the last weekend of June, which means that the canyon would be opening in a few days…and the road would be bustling with cars and motorcycles…so I relished in the quiet, hearing only my footsteps…and the stream and birds…and the slight wind in the tree-tops….

Interestingly, I too lived surrounded by forests. Heck, my yard in Michigan looked a lot like that. But after living in Colorado for only a year and a half we took a trip back out East, through Smokey Mountains NP and the Blue Ridge Parkway (which I previously drove).

Literally, the inability to see wide-open expanses hit me hard. What used to be liked very much now felt oppressive, confining . . . and there was too much green.

I don’t know that I would enjoy a stroll through a forest any more . . . actually, I’m pretty sure I would not. But I do remember, and understand, your feelings.

Well, yes, Emilio, there have been some ticks and mosquitos, and the notion of ambushers, but those things don’t detract from my still growing love for the place.

I think it’s interesting how we have lived in similar places and have come to enjoy and prefer different environments. I know I would enjoy living where you do, though, even with the open-ness of the plains stretching eastward…but I would relish the mountains to the west and look forward to my time walking among them.

Thank you for your comment, Emilio; I appreciate you sharing your perspective.

Can’t understand why you would want not to love it so much… I love the forest very much myself. We have a forest here on the western side of Jerusalem… my only fear is that the constant building and developing will make incursions into the forest. I can definitely understand your feelings for the place, even though I love other environments as well.

I suppose I don’t want to love it so much, Shimon, because I don’t want it to hurt that much more if I have to or need to leave it again….

There has been a similar concern here with our canyons that you mentioned with your forest near Jerusalem..with the building and development threatening its existence. Nature-loving political groups have lobbied against further development and have had some fantastic successes to date.

Perhaps I understand your statement. When a place resonates so strongly, it can be almost painful. Alaska is like that for me. I have been away for 14 years and it is too painful to see photos that take me back to my days of self-propelled exploration.

I think I know what you mean. We each have an individual connection and dialogue with Nature that only we as individuals can understand and I find that beautiful and enriching. Beautiful lush and verdant scenery.

Some really fabulous photographs Scott. I grew up in the country, lived in two major capital cities in my twenties and thirties but I have to say, I’m very glad to be back where I spent my boyhood, surrounded by fields. The tourist season is just starting up here now and I know it’s going to be a good few months before I can enjoy a beach to myself again so I totally understand your sentiments. Glad you got to enjoy your canyon one last time before the bustle started. 🙂

Thank you, Chillbrook…and I can understand your love for the open fields of your childhood home after your decades in the cities…that resonates deeply. And yes, it was very intentional that I was in the canyon before opening weekend. The top half of the canyon is only open for four months of the year, but those are usually very populated months. Hopefully the time will pass quickly and you can have your beaches back to yourself again. 🙂

Such lush, beautiful pictures. Took me back to the times I loved best in the mountains. I can relate to how you feel about loving a certain type of landscape. As much as I loved your mountains, it was the ocean that called to me…. nice to be in places we can love so dearly.

Thank you, Gunta…I thought the pictures might be familiar to you…reminders of your time living near our same mountains. And yes, it is so nice that we can be in places that we love so dearly…I hope it can remain that way. 🙂

Another series of wonderful photos that draw me onto that path with you. I always ‘view’ your photos on 200% when you post a series. Gives me that wonderful sensation where my imagination breathes in the fresh air, listens to the faint rustle of the wind and sees every leaf, stone & stream. Thank goodness my brother bough me a 27″ high resolution screen – makes great photos come to life.

That would be a great viewing experience, Victoria…and I am touched that you so enjoy my photographs. How nice that you are able to go on the trails with me and see, hear, and breathe-in the wonderful places. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful comment…. 🙂

I also grew up in a place much like this. I’m sure I would survive if I couldn’t visit such places each day, but surviving isn’t really living. Forests take me outside of myself and let me feel complete and connected. I’m glad that you have a place where you can experience that too, Scott.

Your love of the place comes strongly through your pictures Scott. Taking photos is such an important part of this because it fixes, identifies and captures all those things that are special about your world. If we had the time to stop and paint it would be doing the same….. this is about making iconic images; images that have the very essence, the very spirit of place and time…… and an ever present reminder that you-were-there.

I love your words, John…thank you…. I have a debate with myself sometimes about taking similar pictures of the same places when I visit them again and again…and the thought that wins-out is that I’m capturing an image of what it looks like today, in those moments when I am there now, because there might come a time when I can no longer be out there and the photos are proof even to myself that yes, I was there. Thank you again, John…for your similar and validating thoughts…they mean a lot to me….

These are fantastic photos, Scott. I love the tall cedars. I have never lived where they were so tall and elegant! There is just so much to see in your photographs. The stream fascinates me too. Thanks for these wonderful photos!

Thank you, dear George…and I still marvel at what I find out there when I visit the wild and beautiful parts of my new home state. I, too, am fascinated by the stream and the lakes and ponds I find out in the mountains and canyons…they were so rare in my earlier life that I find them to be wonderful. And you are so welcome. 🙂

It is wonderful, indeed, Montucky…and because of the changing seasons, and even the light from the different times of the day that we’re out there, it’s almost like seeing it anew each time…so wonderful. 🙂

Oh, goodness…you visited a year after posting and I’m just now finding you, almost three months later…. Thank you very much for visiting and for leaving a comment for me. I’m glad you enjoyed the photos…I absolutely love that place! 🙂